SAG/AMPTP Update: Peter Coyote’s Letter
Posted on July 22, 2008
Filed Under Entertainment News, Movies, Television |
Peter Coyote wrote an open letter to the top tier of acting talent in SAG, bringing up an important issue with the common actor… the one who doesn’t earn enough in a year to retire on. He sent the letter to deadlinehollywooddaily.com hoping it would resonate with some of them as they have the power to prevent a strike if they simply do something to protect the members of their union who fill in the worlds around them in the movies they make.
The article can be seen here and makes a few very reasonable suggestions. Here are a few quotes from the letter.
Since 1990 the earnings of the top leading actors have increased exponentially while the salaries of nearly all other actors have been systematically driven down. In many cases, the earnings of established character actors have been rolled back by 60-70 percent. This occurs, in large part, because the working professional (as opposed to the star) is at a disadvantage when negotiating in the new corporatized production environment. We do not possess a unique, marketable (and often media exploited) brand, and consequently lack the power to make or break the existence or profitability of a film. Consequently, respected, veteran actors with numerous credits and hard-earned “quotes” now routinely receive “take-it-or-leave it” offers, often at “scale”—a beginners wage.
There is a simple way leading actors might bring a second, more flexible and targeted weapon into the fray on behalf of your colleagues which incidentally, would provide the ancillary benefit of insuring that you consistently play opposite actors of the highest caliber. If you were to include language in your contracts specifying that, in your films, the “quotes” of your peers must be recognized as a negotiating floor for their compensation, if you publicized that fact, and, if you kicked back a modest amount, say on salaries over six million dollars a film to make that money available, each and every actor negotiating to play opposite you would be empowered to demand the fair compensation that he or she has won for their work.
You cannot grow roses without mulch. While stars represent the beautiful blooms of the industry, the soil of the industry, the medium of growth supplied by all those who surround you, is being starved for nourishment. Eventually, this lack of payback to the medium supporting all the growth will kill, if not the plant itself, at least its quality and vitality. Our industry is not secure while the majority of its players are not. To change the situation requires consciousness, solidarity, and power. We have the consciousness and solidarity. We appeal to you for help with the power.
Sincerely,
Peter Coyote
Does this make too much sense? Yeah, probably. But it’s a good point none the less.
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